Letter to the Editor: Horn’s paid leave unfair to taxpayers

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When is the Bonanza going to stop taking as gospel IVGID staff’s misrepresentations without doing the same level of due diligence it applies to naysayers? Example: the Bonanza’s Sept. 12, 2013 lead story “Trustees OK Horn’s paid leave.”

The story states that at Mr. Horn’s request (“Horn said he met with board chairman Bruce Simonian about 7-10 days ago to discuss the agreement (so) ... his shadow is not cast over (the) process” of selecting a new GM), the IVGID Board approves a “three month separation agreement ... (which) essentially carries out the terms of (Mr. Horn’s) employment contract.”

It does not.

Although Mr. Horn’s employment contract includes a severance/separation payment provision, it only comes into play where IVGID initiates premature employment termination that is not for cause. Here it is Mr. Horn who has requested premature employment termination which means he has no right to compel payment.

Furthermore, there is nothing in Mr. Horn’s employment contract which allows him to purchase public vehicles worth many thousands of dollars for a $1.

So to regurgitate the misrepresentation to make Mr. Horn look good in the press, in my view, is irresponsible. Had I made representations such as these, history shows the Bonanza would not have published them upon IVGID staff’s mere assertion they were not factual.

Let the record show that by the time we total up the three months worth of salary and benefits Mr. Horn will receive for doing nothing; the $18,000-plus vehicle (according to Kelley Blue Book values) he will be purchasing for $1; and the 20 percent salary increase Joe Pomroy will be receiving for doing Mr. Horn’s job on an interim basis, this agreement amounts to a $90K payoff at local property owners’ expense!